We fed on furled fronds from a fledgling fern; fantastic they were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The S.O., a female, fawned over the ferns since arriving in Maine from further south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Can you grab some fiddleheads in your travels? Please. I can’t get them down here,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I <\/a>am waiting for the roadside sellers, dear. None have revealed themselves, and I don’t have time to gather a mess so you can be fed your fill when you fly home.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Fine, I’ll pick some up at the grocery store, but they are five times the price.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She estimated high but wasn’t too far off the per pound price. That’s what you get when you refuse to scour the stream banks of some waterways a little north of home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We either went’ fiddleheading’ or went on a three-day beach vacation. For this year, she determined she would get sand rather than mud between her toes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, yesterday, she found a feed of ferns at our neighborhood grocer. She bought more than we needed, but seconds sometimes become thirds, so it was a wise decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She walked into the house, holding them up like she’d caught a world-class Atlantic salmon using only a stick, string, and hook. By the way, that’s illegal unless you are only making a written comparison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Look at these beauties,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly, apple cider vinegar became something that I must have misplaced, at least until she looked in the lower cupboards where we had stored a couple of liters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stood affirmed; no one throws out the vinegar. No one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were having chili, which was good. However, I pointed out that the results of chili and fiddleheads might have gastric consequences. We went ahead with the plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matteuccia struthiopteris\u2014or, for those who cannot pronounce it, Ostrich ferns are what Mainers (and others) call fiddleheads. They are delicious. But only when they are young and fresh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After chili, we savored the tightly curled fronds of young ferns, their taste and texture a delightful surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not surprising to us, as we are fiddlehead aficionados; you should try them if you are rooting around Maine over the next few weeks. If you have trouble identifying the treats, do a little research, as some people end up with the wrong kind of fern, which can leave you very unsatisfied and feeling a bit silly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Butter is more important than apple cider vinegar, but you’ll have to argue that with your housemates. I like a little vinegar, but not a lot. Salt and pepper are your friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask permission before you go rummaging around on someone else’s stream bank, too. Felonious fern frolicking is frowned upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the Jagged Edge of America, I remain,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TC<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your gracious support through our BuyMeACoffee app is how the blog keeps keepin’ on. Thanks to all who help. We appreciate it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We fed on furled fronds from a fledgling fern; fantastic they were. The S.O., a female, fawned over the ferns since arriving in Maine from further south. “Can you grab some fiddleheads in your travels? Please. I can’t get them down here,” she said. “I am waiting for the roadside sellers, dear. None have revealed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,19,1],"tags":[127,128,45],"class_list":["post-76778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-posts","category-home-posts","category-uncategorized","tag-fiddleheads","tag-foraging","tag-maine-life"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.timcottonwrites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.timcottonwrites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.timcottonwrites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.timcottonwrites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.timcottonwrites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.timcottonwrites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76778\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.timcottonwrites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.timcottonwrites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.timcottonwrites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}